Girder rail track for street railways



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1..

W. G. WOOD. GIRDEB. RAIL TRACK FOR STREET RAILWAYS. No. 460,927.Patented Oct. 6, 1891.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheet-Sheet 2.

W. C. WOOD. GIRDER RAIL TRACK FOB. STREET RAILWAYS.

No. 460,927. Patented 0013.6,1891.

ATTORNEY.

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- W O WOOD GIRDER RAIL TRACK FOR STREET RAILWAYS.

No. 460,927. Patented Oct. 6, 1891.

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ATTORNEY.

n4: nomus PETERS co-. PHOTO-LUNG WASWNBYDN o c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE.

TVILLIAM CLARK lVOOD, OF BROOKLYN, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE LEWIS &FOVLER GIRDER-RAIL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

GlRDER-RAIL TRACK FOR STREET-RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 460,927, dated October6,1891.

Application filed February 27, 1891. Serial No. 383,118. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: v

Be itknown that I, WILLIAM CLARK Wool), a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Girder-Rail Tracks for Street-Railways, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of street-railway tracks inwhich box girderrails are to be used; and it consists in certain novelcombinations of peculiarlyconstructed parts and in certain novel partsso combined, as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

The objects of the invention are, first, to provide for supporting andfastening down the various track-castings required at switches andcrossings by means of chairs and clampfastenings similar to thoseemployed for fastenin g down the box-rails, and so that the castin gsmaybe taken up and relaid without disturbing the rails; secondly, tosupport and fasten down the adjoining ends of such castings and of thebox-rails with which the remainder of the track is laid by means ofchairs common to both; thirdly, to provide cast-iron chairs for thispurpose of a novel construction adapted to be readily molded so as topossess the requisite strength withoutsurplus metal, and, fourthly, toprovide railways With track-castings adapted to be so supported andfastened down.

Three sheets of drawings accompany this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective view of a step-chair and theadjoining ends of a track-casting and a box-rail supported thereon,illustrating this invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the chairalone. Figs. 3 and 4 are end views of the parts shown in Fig. 1, withcross-sections of the track-casting and rail, respectively, in theforeground. Fig. 5 is a plan view of that portion of the chair below theplane of section indicated at 5 5 in Fig. 4. Fig. (5 represents avertical section through all on the line 6 6, Figs. 4: and 5. Fig. 7 isa small scale plan View of a portion of improved track, and Figs. 8 and9 are small scale perspective views of modified stepchairs.

t of the Wrought rail or rails with which the adjoining portions of thetrack are laid. The

box-rail B may have a top of any approved section in connection withdepending webs at both edges having lateral flanges f beveled on top.The particular rail represented in Figs. 1, 3, 4, and 6, and at B inFig. 7 is one of my improved box-girder rails of the section known assection B and of the peculiar construction set forth in a previousspecification, forming part of United States Patent No. $43,470, datedDecember 23, 1890. The rail represented at B in Fig. 7 is a curve-rail(section O) of the same construction, having a high guard g at theinside of its tread. Other box-rails having such flanges on their websmaybe laidin like manner. Said trackcasting A is constructed with anopen-ended longitudinal recess 1, Figs. 3 and 6, in its bottom,including relatively shallow saddle portions .9 in line with theinterior of the boxrailthat is to say, the space between the two webs ofthe railbut narrower than such rail interior and much shallower, so asto leave the necessary thickness of metal in the ends of substantiallythe same external dimensions as adjoining rail ends. (Compare Figs. 3and 4.) The track-casting is further constructed with lateral flanges fat bottom coinciding with those of the clamped rail and beveled on toplike the latter. In the drawings a lateral depression (Z in one sideaids in forming an end portion of the same width as the web portion ofthe clamped rail and adapted to align therewith as to the gage-shouldera; of the tread on each. As to height, the several trackcastings aremade uniform with the rails.

The double chair Figs. 2 and 5 (shown at O in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7)has a stepped top forming two seats a Z) in line with each other, whichare fitted, respectively, to the bottom of the track-casting A,including in this example its said saddle portion 8 and to the interiorof the clamped box-rail B or B Owing to the necessarily-contracteddimensions of the aligning seat, projection c, fitted to said saddleportion 3, I prefer to make the lateral edges of the seat asubstantially as shown, so as to support the track-casting from beneathat its outer edges. Any tilting of the casting or undue strain on theclamps is thus prevented. The lower limits of the respective seats areat one height, and immediately below this limit the chair is providedwith transverse bolt-holes h and at or immediately below these withlateral projections p, beveled at bottom and matching said beveledflanges f f on the track-casting and rail in common. Below said lateralprojections the upright portion of the chair may be merged into orconnected with its horizontal base in any approved manner. Centrallateral braces i 0, having inclined upper edges and conformed,respectively, to the requirements for the inner and outer sides of thetrack, preferably connect said upright portion with said 4 horizontalbase, being so located in common v with a vertical transverse wall 10within the chair which extends from at or near its bottom to the top ofthe highest seat b and forms the riser of the step in the top of thechair, as seen in Fig. 6. A strong and light double chair is thusreadily cast with hollow ends, as shown. Horizontal webs 10 to have beenadded, but may be omitted or modified without affecting this part of theinvention. The lateral base projections z are also preferably providedwith square spike-holes h fitted to my improved spikes D, Fig. 1,patented February 24, 1891, such spikes having elevated button-heads, soas to facilitate driving and drawing them. As these spikes form no partof the present invention, further description of them here is omitted.

After the chair 0 is spiked down, and the adjoining ends of the rail Bor B and track casting A are seated thereon, a pair of rigid'wedging-clainps E are applied to the lateral flanges ff and projections19, each clamp being constructed with longitudinal lips or flanges fbeveled intern ally to match the bevel of said lateral flanges andprojections, and with bolt-holes matching said bolt-holes h in thechair. These clamps are the product of anovel process of manufacture,which is the subject of another specification forming part of myapplication for United States Patent, filed November 6, 1890, Serial No.370,510. Fastening-bolts F,'with screw-nuts n, for which keys may besubstituted, complete the structure. When these are tightened, thetrack-castingA and rail B orB are drawn down upon the chair 0, theelastic webs of the rail being sprung inward against the sides of theseat I) of the chair without impairing their elasticity, which,thereupon, acting through the coact-ing beveled flanges ff and throughthe clamps E, keeps the nuts or keys of both bolts tight. (See Fig. 4.)Other advantages of such rails and fastening devices are set forth in mysaid rail specification forming part of Patent No. 443,470, and in myspecification forming part of a previous application for Patent filedNovember 1, 1889,

Serial No. 328,906, (Patent No. 450,594, dated April 14, 1891,) in whichsaid clamping devices and their combination with such rails and chairsare more fullyset forth and claimed. The step-chair represented at C inFig. 7 is of the same construction as said chair 0, but modified forlocation at the right side of the track and the far end of thetrack-casting, or at the near end of the track-casting and the left sideof the track, as determined by-the necessary position "of its outerbrace "o and the succession of its seats for the track-casting and therail, respectively, as compared with those of said chair 0. The modifiedstep-chairs C 0 (represented, respectively, by Figs. 8 and 9) are eachidentical with said chair 0, except as to the seat a for thetrackcasting. In said chair 0 this seat a is flat from side to side, andin said chair 0 its lateral edges are beveled downwardly so as to causethe track-casting to be supported on the seat projection c, in the samemanner as the boxrail is supported on its seat 1). Both of thesepatterns of chair would be cast right and left like the chairs 0 CDetails which have not been specified may be of any approveddescription, and other like modifications, including the construction ofa single chair for track-castings on the same principle, will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art.

The intermediate chair represented at C and theknee represented at K inFig. 7 may be of any approveddescription and form no part of thisinvention.

Having thus described the said improvement in girder-rail tracks, Iclaim as my invention and desire to patent under this speci:fication-- 1. The combination, in a street railway track, of atrack-casting constructed with an open-ended longitudinal recess initsbottom, including a relatively-shallow saddle portion, and with lateralflanges beveled on top on its respective sides, a chair therefor havinga seat projection at top fitted to said saddleportion and lateralprojections beveled at bottom matching said beveled flanges, a pair ofclamps having internally-beveled flanges matching said lateral flangesand projections,

and a bolt or bolts passing through said chair and clamps below thebottom of the track-casting, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

2. The combination, in a street railway track, of a track-casting havingan end provided with lateral flanges beveled on top, a box girder-railhaving like beveled flanges on its depending webs, a double chair havingat top a pair of seats in line with each other, fitted, respectively, tothe bottom of the track-casting and to the interior of the boxrail, andhaving lateral projections beveled at bottom matching said lateralflanges of the track-casting and rail in common, clamps havinginternally-beveled flanges matching said lateral flanges and projeetions, and bolts passing through said chair and clamps below thebottom of said track-casting and below the lower edges of the rail-webs,substantially as hereinbefore specified.

3. A hollow-ended cast chair for supporting the adjoining ends of atrack-casting and a box girder rail having its upper surface stepped andcrowned With two seats of different heights in line with each other andhaving a rigid transverse wall extending from at or near its bottom tothe top of the higher seat and forming at top the riser of the step inthe chair, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

4. A track-casting, as hereinbefore specified, constructed with anopen-ended 1ongitudinal recess in its bottom, includingrelativcly-shallow saddle portions, and with lateral flanges beveled ontop on its respective sides at bottom, substantially as shown anddescribed.

WILLIAM CLARK WOOD.

XVitnesses;

THos. S. EVANS, CHAS. HEALY.

